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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. club — for dancing
  3. kick — in football
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. stock — goods
  7. plane — a tool
  8. net — in sport
  9. club — a group
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. club — for golf
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. clip — a video
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wax — to grow
  17. net — for catching
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. net — after costs
  22. clip — to cut
  23. saw — the tool
  24. stock — shares

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com